Meeting Baby James
by chriswiss23
Summary: Lydia and Jimmy James pay a visit to the Scott family and meet their grandson for the first time. Naley and baby fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, so this is a request for Jess (I hope you like it girlie)...I plan on it having three parts, so I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to tell me what you think!

Disclaimer- Neither One Tree Hill nor any of its characters belongs to me.

Summary- James is two months old when Haley's parents finally get home to Tree Hill to pay the Scott family a visit. Cute Naley with baby fluff.

**Meeting Baby James**

_**Part One**_

"Nathan, will you please change him into the outfit my parents sent him?" Haley pleaded as she rushed around the nursery picking up things and putting them where they belonged. Her parents were going to be here any minute to see James for the first time and she still felt like she had a million things to do.

"You mean that sailor one? No." Nathan said bluntly as he carried the baby into the room and laid him down in his crib. He didn't care who sent him the outfit, there was no way he would ever dress his little boy in a sailor suit.

"I know it's not the most fashionable piece of clothing, but they would really like to see him in it." Haley tried again as she rushed out of the room to go straighten her and Nathan's room. This was the first time she had seen her parents since she married Nathan the first time and she wanted everything to be perfect. They had called only two days ago to say they were driving up to visit for the weekend and now Haley was sure that it was impossible to be more stressed out.

Nathan chuckled at how on edge his wife was about this visit. "Your mommy's crazy." He said as he picked James back up and walked over to closet to find something for him to wear that Haley would approve of.

Haley was in the middle of remaking her and Nathan's bed for the third time when she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. They were here. She felt excited to see her parents for the first time in over a year but at the same time she was a nervous wreck. She walked to the top of the stairs just in time to see Deb open the front door and her parents step inside and looked around.

"Haley James Scott you better come down here right now and give your old man a hug!" Jimmy called with a large smile on his face.

"And bring that baby!" Lydia added before starting to talk to Deb.

Haley smiled warmly as she descended the steps. "Hi Mom, hi Dad." She said excitedly as she made her way over to give her father a hug just as he had commanded. "I missed you guys so much!"

"We missed you too Haley-bub." Lydia said with a large smile. She loved traveling the country in the RV with Jimmy, but sometimes she wondered if leaving Haley behind was really the best decision. "Now where's my handsome grandson?"

"Nathan's changing him, he'll be down in a minute." Haley smiled. Her nerves were now gone and the giddiness had overtaken her. She was so excited to see her parents again and to have them meet her son.

"You better hope he brings the kid down here soon before your mother goes insane." Jimmy teased. "The whole way up here she kept staring at the picture you sent us and crying. She was saying stuff like 'I can't believe my baby had a baby'."

"Oh Jimmy, would you keep your mouth shut?" Lydia laughed. "I was just excited. If that picture was any indication, little James is going to grow up to be a heartbreaker."

"He's absolutely beautiful." Deb agreed with a smile. She loved playing the role of the doting grandmother.

"Of course he is, he's got my name doesn't he?" Jimmy laughed.

Just then, Nathan came down the steps carrying the baby dressed in a blue onesie with the number "23" stitched in the center. Haley smiled when she saw the outfit because it was one of the ones that Brooke had made and then sent to them from California.

"Oh my, hand him over Nathan!" Lydia commanded as she reached her arms out to grab the baby. Nathan smiled as he gently handed James off to his mother-in-law. "Oh my goodness, you are one handsome devil." Lydia cooed as a few tears escaped from her eyes.

"Lydia, don't hog the boy. Grandpa wants to hold him too." Jimmy chided as he looked over his wife's shoulder at the little baby. Haley walked over to stand next to Nathan who put his arm around her shoulder. In true James fashion, her parents had already gained the attention of the infant.

"Jimmy, I'm not done holding him yet." Lydia sniffled. "Nathan, Haley, he's positively precious. Don't be surprised if I never give him back."

"Jimmy, Lydia, I think I'm going to make some coffee, do you want any?" Deb asked politely. It was getting late, too late to serve meal.

"That would be great Deb, thank you." Jimmy smiled. "Nathan, do you want to go get our bags out of the RV?"

"Um…yeah, sure." Nathan responded as Haley tried to stifle a giggle. She watched her husband exit the foyer and then turned to look at her dad.

"Daddy, why did you make Nathan go get your bags?" Haley asked light-heartedly.

"Because, my back's getting bad." Jimmy defended himself as he peered over his wife's shoulder at his grandson. Haley smiled at how excited her parents were about the baby. Her mom just kept staring at him through shimmering water-filled eyes and her dad couldn't take his eyes off of him.

"You know what baby James? I think you just might be a cuter baby than your mommy." Lydia said playfully as she started to rock the infant back and forth.

"Hey." Haley smiled.

"Don't worry, I was just kidding." Lydia grinned. It was so surreal that she was holding her youngest daughter's son right now. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Haley would be the one of her all her children to get married and have a baby before she even went to college.

"Lydia, seriously, it's my turn." Jimmy said firmly, but still lovingly. Lydia sighed, not wanting to let go of the precious bundle she was holding before turning around to hand James off to her husband. Jimmy laughed as he received the baby into his arms. James looked directly up at his grandpa through his deep blue eyes that were a direct replica of Nathan's and Jimmy completely melted. "Lydia, why did I let you talk me out of buying him a new swing set again?"

"Because he can't use a swing set yet." Lydia laughed as she walked over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her shoulder. "You did good baby, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks mom." Haley smiled as the tears sprung to her eyes and she engulfed her mother in another hug. "Oh you're going to make me cry."

"Well then I guess we'll cry together." Lydia smiled as she hugged her daughter back. They were interrupted by the front door swinging open and Nathan walking in with Jimmy and Lydia's suitcases. He nodded at them before carrying the bags upstairs. "Jimmy, go help the boy. I don't think he realizes that we each have another bag in the RV."

"I'm holding the baby." Jimmy shrugged as if to tell his wife that he wasn't going to go get the rest of their bags. They had decided that they wanted to stay in the house all weekend rather than in their RV because they wanted to be as close to their baby and their grandbaby as possible.

"I'll take him dad." Haley offered before receiving an irritated yet playful look from her father. She didn't care if her parents just got here and wanted to hold James, that didn't change the fact that she missed the little guy. She was so used to carrying him around that it felt weird to not have him bundled in her arms for this long. Besides, she didn't want Nathan to have to carry in all of those bags by himself. She knew that her parents had a tendency to over pack.

"You heard her Jimmy. Hand my grandbaby over." Lydia joked as she watched her husband gently hand the baby back to his mother before heading out the door towards the RV.

"Hi sweet baby James. Did you say hello to Grandma and Grandpa?" Haley cooed to the gurgling baby in her arms.

"Ok, there's coffee in the living room if you both want to go in there." Deb said politely as she re-entered the foyer. Haley and her mom both nodded and followed Deb into the living room and took seats on the couch, waiting for their husbands to join them. "So Lydia, where did you two drive here from?"

"Well, right before we came here we were camping in the Smoky Mountains so we weren't too far away." Lydia laughed before turning towards Haley and talking to the little boy she was holding. "James, do you know what Grandma and Grandpa saw when they were in the mountains? We saw a bear! Yes we did, he was a nice bear though. Someday we'll take you to the mountains-"

"Mom, he's two months old." Haley giggled as she stroked her son's soft face. "He doesn't know what a bear is."

"Well, he's going to have to learn sometime." Lydia concluded as she added sugar to her coffee. James instantly started to wiggle and whimper when he saw Nathan enter the room. He was a total daddy's boy. Haley smiled as Nathan knowingly scooped his son up and sat down next to Haley on the couch. "Nathan, I was just telling Haley that we're all going to have to go on a family camping trip sometime."

"Uh, that sounds fun Mrs. James, but I think James is a little too young for that right now…" Nathan trailed off. Camping with Haley's crazy family, although it would certainly be entertaining, was not really at the top of his wish list.

Haley giggled a little as she leaned on his shoulder. "Maybe in a couple of years mom."

"Of course, that's what I meant anyway. We wouldn't want a mountain lion to eat the angel or anything." Lydia laughed. "Deb, this coffee is divine, but I'm afraid if I drink much more I'll never get to sleep tonight."

"Why thank you Lydia." Deb smiled. "And trust me, you'll get plenty of sleep. James already sleeps through the night like a rock."

"Really?" Lydia asked incredulously as she looked to Nathan and Haley who nodded their heads and looked down at the baby affectionately. "I never would have guessed that, Haley didn't sleep through the night until she was at least twelve years old."

"Mom." Haley rolled her eyes playfully.

"No, it's true. Up until you were twelve you had never slept a full night in a room by yourself."

"What? Sure I did." Haley defended herself with a smile, purposely avoiding Nathan's stare that was directed at her and the playful smirk that was no doubt on his face.

"Nope, because you shared a room with Taylor until you were twelve and every night that she was at a friend's house you always mysteriously found your way into our bed by morning." Lydia laughed as Deb and Nathan did too.

"Don't listen to her, James." Haley said sweetly as she leaned over to talk to the infant. "She's just jealous because her babies weren't as adorable as you."

"You got that right." Lydia laughed as Jimmy entered the room and sat down next to his wife. "Jimmy, I didn't hear you come back in."

"Yeah, well I heard you all laughing in here." Jimmy responded. "What did I miss?"

"We were just talking about how James is cuter than our kids." Lydia beamed. Of course, that wasn't true. All babies were equally gorgeous, but James just seemed to be extra sweet. Maybe it was the fact that he was her youngest grandchild.

"He is. He's lucky he has me for a grandpa to give him all of the handsome genes." Jimmy agreed, invoking laughter once again upon the room.

A few hours later, after Jimmy and Lydia had told the group about many of their crazy RV adventures and Deb had taken out Nathan's baby photos to compare James to, Lydia noticed the sleeping baby in Nathan's arms and decided that it was time to go to bed. "Well, I'm wiped out from all the driving we did today; I think Jimmy and I are going to head on up to bed."

"We are? I mean, yeah, we're absolutely worn out." Jimmy agreed with a firm shake of his head after noticing his sleeping grandson and the way Haley was fighting to keep her eyes opened as her head lay on Nathan's shoulder. The joys and no doubt the pains of motherhood were obviously taking an effect on her already.

"I think I'm going to head on up to bed myself." Deb smiled politely before standing up.

"Ok, goodnight." Haley smiled sleepily before standing up to hug her mother and father one last time before they went up to the guestroom. She watched as Deb followed her parents upstairs before turning back to Nathan. "You ready to take him upstairs?"

"Yeah." Nathan whispered as he adjusted the sleeping boy in his arms so he could stand up without waking him. "Let's go."

Haley laid a gentle kiss on James's creamy forehead before they all started up the stairs silently. When they go to the nursery, both Nathan and Haley shared a knowing look. If they changed him into his pajamas he would wake up and possibly take another couple of hours to go back to sleep. Since he was wearing a onesie which looked to be quite comfortable and he didn't need his diaper changed, they both silently agreed to let him sleep in the outfit.

Nathan made his way over to the crib, carefully lowering the tiny boy onto the mattress and watching the steady rising and falling of his chest. One of his favorite things to do was watch James sleep, he always looked so peaceful and innocent as he slept and Nathan's heart overflowed with pride every time he witnessed his baby sleeping. Haley pulled a light blue blanket over him and leaned down to kiss his rosy cheek. She then stepped back and Nathan slung his arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close to him. They both just stood there watching their son, as they did almost every night, wondering how they could have been so blessed.

* * *

"I still can't believe your parents actually told us that sex is better when you're in the woods." Nathan chuckled once he and Haley were back in their bedroom with the door safely shut so no one could hear them.

"You may have thought it was funny, but I wanted to die. Those are my parents." Haley laughed lightly as she pulled one of Nathan's t-shirts over her head and put her hair up into a ponytail. The last thing she wanted to think about was her parents doing…that.

"We should definitely try that though when we go on that family camping trip." Nathan teased as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into the closet across the room.

"Well, I can't believe that my parents actually warned us not to let James get a hold of any crack until he's at least 15." She laughed. Her parents were very different than most parents, that was for sure. "My sweet innocent baby is never going to do crack."

"No, definitely no crack." Nathan laughed when he saw Haley's brow furrow as she thought of the possibility of her baby growing up to be a druggie. There was no way that James would ever end up on crack, especially since Haley was his mom. _Why am I thinking about my two month old son doing drugs?_ "James is going to grow up to be the best basketball player the NBA has ever seen." He concluded.

"Oh." Haley laughed as she walked over to the bed and sat down under the covers. "Don't you think we might be aiming a little high with that one?"

"Nah," Nathan shrugged. "Our boy's a prodigy."

Haley couldn't help but laugh at that. "If so, then I think we should try for president or next receiver of the Nobel Peace Prize instead."

"Are you kidding? Basketball is way cooler that both of those." He joked as he joined his wife on the bed. He reached out his arm to pull her close to him just as she leaned over to turn off the light. As soon as the lights were off, his arm expertly pulled her over to him causing her to squeal with delight. "You're going to wake up your parents." He warned.

"I don't care." She smiled as she kissed his lips softly, pulling back moments later to see a look on his face that she knew so well. She looked at him as if to tell him to stop when she felt his hands start to wonder down her back.

"What? You just said that you don't care." Nathan smirked.

"That was when it was innocent squealing." She defended herself. "Do you know how embarrassing breakfast tomorrow would be if they woke up because of us?" Tomorrow was already going to be a big day, she could tell. Anytime her parents were around, something interesting happened.

"You're right, that would be pretty awkward." Nathan conceded as he wrapped his arms around her waist, rolling over so he was on top of her and then proceeding to leave hot wet kisses on her neck.

"Nathan, I'm serious." Haley giggled. Her giggles soon turned into light moans as his mouth traveled down her collarbone. "Ok, ok, but you better be quiet." She surrendered as she pulled is face up to his and kissed him forcefully.

"Me?" Nathan pulled apart from her and raised his eyebrows playfully.

"Let me rephrase, you better make sure you keep me quiet." She commanded before pulling his mouth back to hers. Nathan smiled against her lips, keeping her quiet had never been one of his talents.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, so here's the second part to the story. Sorry it took so long, this past week was super busy for me. I'll try to get the final part out sooner. :-) Thank you all for the amazing reviews, they mean so much to me and I'm so glad to know that you are enjoying this story. Keep it up!

Disclaimer- Neither One Tree Hill nor any of its characters belongs to me.

Summary- James is two months old when Haley's parents finally get home to Tree Hill to pay the Scott family a visit. Cute Naley with baby fluff.

**Meeting Baby James**

_**Part Two**_

Haley awoke the next morning to the beautiful sound of silence. She looked at the alarm clock next to the bed and saw that it was 7:14 and still quiet, too quiet. James slept through the night now, but he was always up by about 7:00 in the morning. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes as she felt Nathan's hand tugging at the oversized t-shirt she was wearing as if to tell her to lay back down. "Nathan, it's late and the baby hasn't made a sound yet."

"He's probably sleeping," Nathan mumbled. It was 7:14 on a Saturday morning, hardly what he would call late. "Let's just sleep until he wakes up."

"Oh my gosh, he hasn't made a sound," Haley said worriedly as she hurried out of the bed and pulled on some of Nathan's basketball shorts that were lying on the floor. "Do you know what that could mean? Nathan, maybe he suffocated in his crib, or, oh God, maybe he's not breathing. Do you know how common SIDS is? Why isn't he awake yet?"

Nathan watched as she ran frantically out of the bedroom and into the nursery across the hall. Ever since James was born, she constantly worried about him somehow suffocating in his crib. Basically once a week for the past two months she would have a minor panic attack like this. She would freak out about not hearing the baby yet and then rush into the nursery, only to find him peacefully asleep. Of course, to soothe her mind she always had to hold him and accidentally wake him up in the process.

When Haley arrived in the blue nursery, her eyes darted to the crib where absolutely no noise was originating. She felt her heart rise and then drop a little when she saw that there was no baby in the bed. Why wasn't he in his crib? Her mind automatically brought up dark thoughts about the missing boy, it's not like he can get out on his own yet. She quickly rushed back across the hall where Nathan was already asleep again. "Nathan! He's not in his bed! Wake up!"

"What?" Nathan mumbled against the pillow as Haley grabbed on to his arm tried to pull him out of bed.

"James isn't in his crib. What if someone broke in and kidnapped him last night? Oh my God," Nathan watched as his wife all but hyperventilated because their son was not sleeping in his bed right now. Sure, it was a little weird that James wasn't in his bed, but there were three other people in the house that could have easily taken him out this morning.

"Haley, calm down," Nathan soothed as he grabbed her wrist from his arm. "Did you check with my mom or your parents? He's probably downstairs with them."

"You're right. He's got to be downstairs with my parents or something," Haley said to reassure herself. Ever since James was born, her biggest fear was that something would happen to him while she was asleep. Mornings were always a little bit stressful for her because he had been out of her sight all night and anything could have happened to him. They had kept James's crib in their room for the first month, but once he started sleeping through the night Deb had convinced them to move it to the nursery. "I'm going downstairs."

"Ok," Nathan chuckled. He loved the way Haley became frantic over every little thing when it came to James. Sure, he worried about the boy at night too and he secretly wished that the crib was still safely in their bedroom, but he would never admit it out loud. He didn't want to be one of those crazy obsessive parents.

Haley quickly kissed his forehead and then made her way out of the room. Her parents or Deb had to have taken him out this morning, that was the only logical explanation. It would explain why they hadn't heard him crying and why he wasn't in the nursery. As she descended the steps she heard the familiar laugh of none other than her mother.

"So then I said, Haley, that's not icing," Lydia laughed from her seat at the kitchen table. Haley was sure that her father was down there too and Deb's laughter could also be heard ringing through the hallway. As she approached the kitchen, she had to wonder if her parents always told embarrassing stories about her when she was sleeping. She was positive that she would never do that to James.

"Nathan did the same thing when he was little!" Haley heard Deb's voice say with a laugh. "Only he tasted bacon grease that had been sitting out for a couple hours."

More laughter could be heard as Haley finally entered the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief when she saw her father holding a content baby James. "Good morning Haley Bub, would you like some pancakes? Deb and I made them this morning. We put chocolate chips in some of them just for you," Lydia smiled.

"Thanks mom," Haley smiled as she walked over to her father and her son. "Hey baby, how are you?"

At the sound of his mother's voice, James instantly started squirming and Jimmy reluctantly handed him over to Haley. "And I thought he liked me," he laughed.

"Oh, of course he likes you, don't you baby?" Haley cooed to the baby who looked up at her with wide eyes and tried his best to smile. "So which one of you kidnapped my son from his crib this morning?" Haley teased as she tickled James's stomach.

"That would be me," Lydia said in a very unapologetic voice. "I wanted to see the little angel and when I walked in he was already awake. By the way, do you always come down here in the morning looking like that? Honey, those aren't even your clothes," she scolded as Haley rolled her eyes playfully.

"No, normally I put on a robe or something, but I went into James's room and he wasn't there…" Haley paused to look pointedly at her mother who only shrugged with a smile. "And I wanted to get down here fast to make sure you had him."

"Haley's in the overprotective stage of motherhood," Deb pointed out to Lydia who nodded in agreement.

"What? No I'm not," Haley defended herself as she sat down in one of the chairs while holding the baby in her lap. "I just get a little worried sometimes."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal," Lydia assured her daughter. "After I had Matt, our oldest," she pointed out as she turned to Deb. "I would get so nervous every time he ate anything that wasn't mashed up. Once he started eating solid foods, I thought I would end up having a heart attack because I was so sure that he was going to choke."

"Oh, I know. When Nathan was little I would get really nervous every time he sucked his thumb. I know, it was dumb of me, but I always thought he would somehow choke on it or something," Deb laughed as Nathan entered into the kitchen wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"I see we're talking about me?" Nathan chuckled as he kissed Haley lightly on the top of her head and then sat down next to her at the table.

"Nathan, you never told me you sucked your thumb," Haley giggled as the baby started to stare at his daddy whose hair was all over the place and whose eyes still held the appearance of sleep. It was obvious that Nathan had gotten out of bed about a minute ago.

"I did not," Nathan defended himself in a sleepy voice as he graciously took the glass of orange juice from his own mother and drank a little, watching as James's eyes followed his every movement.

"Oh, yes you did," Deb laughed. "You sucked your thumb until you were at least three years old."

Everyone in the room aside from Nathan and James started laughing and Nathan turned to give Deb an aggravated look. If only his mother would stop telling his in-laws these embarrassing things. She was allowed to say this in front of Haley, that he didn't care about, but did she have to tell Haley's parents? It's not like he could control whether or not he liked to suck his thumb when he was three years old. "Whatever," he smirked before leaning over to leave a soft kiss on the baby's head. "So, what do we have planned for the day?"

"Oh, Nathan, I'm so glad you asked," Lydia cheered. "Jimmy, tell him."

"We thought it would be nice to have a picnic in the park," Haley's father said as he sat down in a chair next to Nathan and opened the newspaper to the sports section. "Oh, Nate, looks like UNC is going to be having a great season, you think you can take them?"

"I'm going to try," Nathan smiled as he took baby James from Haley's arms so she could get herself some breakfast.

**

* * *

**

"Nathan, did Haley ever tell you about the time she thought she got lost in the park?" Jimmy asked as the group approached a picnic table in the middle of the park. Haley was pushing the stroller and Nathan was walking beside her.

"Um, no she didn't," he smirked as he looked at his wife who was conveniently engrossed in arranging a thin blanket over the stroller so the sun was out of James's eyes.

"Oh, this is a great story," Lydia laughed. "Jimmy, you tell it."

"Ok, so when Haley was about five years old we took all of the kids to the park. Lydia and I had to split up the kids because they were too much of a handful when they were all together," he started explaining. "So I took the three boys with me and she took the four girls. Haley of course, being the youngest by about three years was constantly clinging to Lydia. After a while, Lydia had to go to the bathroom so she told Taylor to keep an eye on Haley. You know Taylor; you guess how well that went."

"Dad, must you tell this story?" Haley asked as her face turned a little pink. One could say that they color on her cheeks was from the heat, but Nathan knew that she was embarrassed about the story that her father was currently telling and therefore wanted to hear the rest.

"Yes," Jimmy answered sternly but with a smile. "So Taylor ran off with Quinn and Vivian leaving Haley alone by the sandbox. Haley Bub here didn't even realize that Lydia was gone so she grabbed some old woman's hand and started dragging her along after her sisters."

Nathan, Lydia, and Jimmy all laughed at that while Haley scowled at them and then looked down at her baby boy. Telling embarrassing stories to his wife was another thing that she would certainly add to the list of what not to do when he was older.

"Then, after dragging this old woman half way across the park, Haley finally realized that it wasn't her mom and started crying. No, not crying, bawling, sobbing hysterically, whatever you want to call it," Jimmy laughed as he continued. "She didn't even realize that I was standing right behind her because I had seen the whole thing happen."

"The best part was that when Jimmy tried to pick her up to calm her down, she thought that she was so lost that she was hallucinating, so she bit him," Lydia laughed. She missed the days when her children were little. There were so many funny moments that she would give up a lot to go re-live them.

"Ok, can that please be the last embarrassing story for today?" Haley begged as they stopped at a picnic table and she gently hoisted James out of his seat in the stroller and onto her lap. "Where's Deb when I need her? Maybe I could get some embarrassing stories out of her about your daddy."

"Hales, we live with my mom, you get plenty of embarrassing stories from her," Nathan laughed as he grabbed James's diaper bag from the stroller and sat down next to her. "I never get to hear this stuff from your parents, so we're even."

"Where is Deb anyway? All she said was she couldn't make it this afternoon," Jimmy wondered aloud as he stared at his grandson who has taken Haley's free hand to his mouth and was sucking on one of her fingers.

Nathan and Haley looked at each other as if trying to decide whether or not to tell them before Nathan spoke up. "She's probably at the shooting range, she goes there every Saturday afternoon."

"Shooting, like guns?" Lydia gasped. "She doesn't keep a gun in the house, does she?"

"No, mom. It's in a locker at the shooting range," Haley responded as she removed her finger from the baby's mouth and tried to soothe him when his lip started to quiver and his eyes filled up with tears. "Nathan, will you hand me a bottle please, he's hungry."

"Well, in that case, she should have invited me. You know, when we were camping in the mountains I learned how to shoot a rifle," Lydia boasted as she watched Nathan remove a bottled from the diaper bag and take the cap off.

"Oh please, Lydia. You couldn't hit a deer if it was already dead and laying right in front of you," Jimmy teased.

"Maybe so," She conceded. "Haley, can I ask why you decided to bottle feed instead of breast feed? Breast milk has been proven to be healthier for the baby and-"

"Because we're going to be in college next year and we just thought it would be too hard with our different class schedules and basketball games and stuff like that," Haley explained as she graciously took the bottle from Nathan and positioned it at James's mouth. When the baby felt the bottle on his lips he immediately opened his mouth and put his hands on the side to keep the bottle in place. Haley still had to hold the bottle for him because his muscles weren't strong enough yet to support it on his own, but it was still adorable to watch him try.

"That makes sense," Jimmy nodded. "Lydia, stop harassing them. We bottle fed all of them except for the first two."

"True," Lydia agreed. "And look how good Haley turned out. I guess I can agree with your choice, but only if I get to feed him."

Haley looked down at her son, not wanting to give him up. He stared at her with his large blue eyes and she realized that she got to feed him every day and her parents were only here until tomorrow. She sighed before standing up and walking over to her mother, gently handing the baby off to her while keeping the bottle in place. "Be careful with his head."

"Haley, I had seven children, I know how to hold a baby," Lydia pointed out with a laugh as she cradled James in her arms and held the bottle op for him. Haley chuckled at her own antics. Of course her mother knew how to hold a baby, she was just wary of giving him up for a few minutes.

When she got back to her seat she noticed for the first time that Nathan and her father were deep in their own conversation. Upon farther listening, she determined that her father was giving Nathan tips on how to be an effective disciplinarian.

"You just have to look them in the eye and lay down the law," Jimmy concluded.

"Dad, I don't think you have much room to talk on this issue," Haley giggled as both of the men turned to look at her.

"Why is that?" He asked, noticing the smile on her face and in her voice. "I was good at keeping you kids in line!"

"Yeah right, I had you wrapped around my finger and you know it. You didn't even punish me that one time when I punched Taylor," Haley laughed as she scooted closer to Nathan and he put his arm around her shoulder. Haley punching Taylor was definitely something he wished he had seen.

"You were only five years old," Jimmy defended himself. "And she did flush your favorite barbie's head down the toilet."

"I know she deserved it," Haley chuckled. "But I shouldn't have punched her so you should have grounded me or something. Mom was always the one I was scared of."

"Jimmy, Haley's right. You were a big softie even though you pretended to be strict," Lydia laughed, causing James to stir in her arms. "Did you hear that sweet baby? Your grandpa is a big softie. He'll never yell at you for anything," she cooed. "Unless you mess with his dentures," she added.

"I do not have dentures!"

"But you will, so I want James to get used to the fact that you have fake teeth," Lydia said dismissively as she started to talk to the baby again. James pushed the bottle from his mouth and Lydia knowingly set in on the table. "You're such a good boy, James. You drank almost the whole bottle!"

A few minutes later James was back in his mother's arms and Jimmy and Lydia were sharing an exciting tale about their trip to the Grand Canyon. "So then she said she wanted to go white water rafting," Jimmy laughed as he shook his head for emphasis. "I'm sure you can think of all the wonders that did for my back."

"Oh, stop your complaining Grandpa," Lydia smiled as she slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Nathan, I haven't gotten to talk to you very much this weekend. Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?"

"Um, yeah, I have." Nathan answered uneasily. He had gone with his parents when he was younger and the only thing he remembered about the whole trip was Dan and Deb arguing and then Dan taking him home early and leaving Deb behind. His visit to the Grand Canyon was definitely not his favorite memory to say the least.

Haley remembered Nathan telling her about his family vacation to the Grand Canyon and she knew how much he hated to talk about it. That trip, along with many other parts of his childhood, was best forgotten. "Nathan, will you take him? He's getting fussy," she asked suddenly, changing the subject as she lifted the little boy off her lap and into Nathan's outstretched arms. Nathan gave her a grateful look before turning his attention to the whimpering baby in his arms.

"It looks like the angel is about ready for a nap," Lydia sympathized as she stared at her grandson. She just couldn't get enough of him and she was sure that she never would. He was innocent and adorable personified.

"Yeah, we should probably start heading back," Jimmy agreed.

Nathan looked down as the baby whose eyelids were growing heavier by the minute and decided that his in-laws were right. James needed a nap and the heat from the sun was starting to get a little excessive. James yawned as Nathan held him tighter and got up to walk over to the stroller. Almost as soon as he started to lower the tiny boy in, he started to cry. Loud wails rang through the park and Haley was instantly by his side to help calm the child down.

Nathan and Haley watched the baby with puzzled faces as they tried everything to get his tears to stop falling, but every time he was close to the stroller, they came again. Nathan rubbed James's back as Haley whispered into his ear, but every time they moved to put him in the stroller, he started to cry again.

"I don't get it, he was fine in the stroller before," Haley said as she racked her brain trying to think of what could be upsetting her son. He didn't have a dirty diaper, he wasn't hungry, he was tired, but he usually didn't cry when he was tired but instead just fell asleep.

"Haley, I think he's mad because he doesn't want to go into the stroller," Lydia laughed as she looked over at Jimmy who nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean? He was fine in it earlier," Haley responded as she and Nathan both looked them. Nathan was slowly rocking James back and forth as his crying subsided.

"But he wants Nathan to keep holding him," Jimmy pointed out as if it were obvious. Nathan and Haley looked at each other before focusing on their baby who was already falling asleep against Nathan's chest.

"Oh," Haley smiled, embarrassed that she hadn't figured that out on her own.

"It's ok, baby. Parenthood takes practice. After seven kids, we're pretty good at reading children," Lydia chuckled as she took in the look on her daughter's face.

"So, I guess I'm carrying him home," Nathan laughed lightly as he felt the soft breaths of his son on him and the steady rising and falling of his chest. James was already fast asleep in his father's arms and Nathan wouldn't want it any other way.


End file.
